Dovey Coe - Softcover

Dowell, Frances O'Roark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689846673 ISBN 13: 9780689846670

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001

Synopsis

My name is Dovey Coe and I reckon it don't matter if you like me or not. I'm here to lay the record straight, to let you know them folks saying I done a terrible thing are liars. I aim to prove it, too. I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next person, but I didn't kill him.

Dovey Coe says what's on her mind, so it's no secret that she can't stand Parnell Caraway. Parnell may be the son of the richest man in town, but he's mean and snobby, and Dovey can't stand the fact that he's courting her sister, Caroline, or the way he treats her brother, Amos, as if he were stupid just because he can't hear.
So when Parnell turns up dead, and Dovey's in the room where his body is discovered, she soon finds herself on trial for murder. Can the outspoken Dovey sit still and trust a city slicker lawyer who's still wet behind the ears to get her out of the biggest mess of her life?

About this title

Review:

"My name is Dovey Coe, and I reckon it don't matter if you like me or not. I'm here to lay the record straight, to let you know them folks saying I done a terrible thing are liars.... I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next person, but I didn't kill him."

Twelve-year-old Dovey has never had the slightest problem speaking her mind. But now, faced with a murder trial, she may just have to keep her mouth shut while the slick city lawyer takes care of things. It all started when the wealthy, vain, greedy Parnell takes a notion to win Dovey's older sister, trying to convince her she's too pretty to go off to college. But behind her back, he treats Dovey and her deaf brother Amos like dirt all summer long. Dovey gets in her jabs whenever she can--until the day she finds herself trapped in a back room with an irate, vengeful Parnell. Things don't look too good for Dovey when she comes to and finds her enemy dead on the floor next to her.

Southern courtroom drama, a sassy female protagonist, a misunderstood yet gentle neighborhood character, vicious and narrow-minded villains--sound familiar? Yes, there's a lot of Harper Lee's Scout in Dovey, and Boo Radley in Amos (To Kill a Mockingbird). But Frances O'Roark Dowell's absorbing, readable story of families, prejudice, love, and hate has a life all its own. Dovey is an impeccably drawn heroine, complete with Southern dialect, sturdy self-esteem, and down-home wisdom. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

About the Author:

Frances O’Roark Dowell is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of Dovey Coe, which won the Edgar Award and the William Allen White Award; Where I’d Like to Be; The Secret Language of Girls and its sequels The Kind of Friends We Used to Be and The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away; Chicken Boy; Shooting the Moon, which was awarded the Christopher Medal; the Phineas L. MacGuire series; Falling In; the critically acclaimed The Second Life of Abigail Walker; Anybody Shining; Ten Miles Past Normal; Trouble the Water; the Sam the Man series; and The Class. She lives with her family in Durham, North Carolina. Connect with Frances online at FrancesDowell.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0689846673
• ISBN 13: 9780689846670
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208